When Big Data Slows Down

Digital Humanities and the Study of Roman Amphitheaters

Sebastian Heath

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RomanEmpire_117_recoloured_2.svg

Colosseum

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colosseum_II.jpg

Amphitheaters around the Empire

Pause for Themes, Terms and Questions

Media Rich (Google)

Assisi in Italy (Maximum dimension not known?)

Media Rich (Google)

Carsulae in Italy

Gladiators, Beast Hunts and Executions

The Zliten (Libya) Mosaic

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Bestiarii.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Circus_Leptis_Magna_Libya.JPG/1024px-Circus_Leptis_Magna_Libya.JPG

Many sizes… but not all shapes

Spatial History

R. White. What is Spatial History? Spatial History Lab: Working paper; Submitted 1 February 2010;

Paragraph 36 (emphasis author): “One of the important points that I want to make about visualizations, spatial relations, and spatial history is something that I did not fully understand until I started doing this work and which I have had a hard time communicating fully to my colleagues: visualization and spatial history are not about producing illustrations or maps to communicate things that you have discovered by other means. It is a means of doing research; it generates questions that might otherwise go unasked, it reveals historical relations that might otherwise go unnoticed, and it undermines, or substantiates, stories upon which we build our own versions of the past.”

“Media Rich” (Nimes)

“Media Rich” (Nimes)

Nimes

“Media Rich” (Trier)

Public Information

http://www.maumburyrings.co.uk or “Peak Amphitheater”

How many amphitheater seats were there?

ramphs$imputed.capacity <- NA
ramphs$imputed.capacity[!(is.na(ramphs$capacity))] <- ramphs[!(is.na(ramphs$capacity)),]$capacity

lm.imp.1 <- lm ( capacity ~ latitude +
                   ext.major + ext.minor + arena.major +
                   arena.minor + arena.major:ext.minor + arena.minor * ext.minor,
                data=ramphs )

pred.1 <- predict (lm.imp.1, ramphs)
ramphs$imputed.capacity <- ifelse (is.na(ramphs$capacity), pred.1, ramphs$capacity)

lm(capacity ~ ext.major, ramphs[(ramphs$ext.major < 120) & (ramphs$ext.major > 50),]) -> lm.ext.major
ramphs$imputed.capacity[(!is.na(ramphs$ext.major)) & (is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity))] <- ramphs$ext.major[(!is.na(ramphs$ext.major)) & (is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity))] * lm.ext.major$coefficients[2]

length(ramphs$imputed.capacity[is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity)])
## [1] 78
ramphs$imputed.capacity[is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity)] <- 5000

sum(ramphs$imputed.capacity)
## [1] 2434835

With many thanks to Katie Anderson of NYU Libaries Data Services who is in no way responsible for my (mis?)use of her work.

Where are the amphitheaters seats?

Calculating Distances

Who should know how to do this?

#generate distances of all amphitheaters to all other amphitheaters
ramphs.dists <- spDists(ramphs.sp,ramphs.sp,longlat = TRUE)

# but let's use names
colnames(ramphs.dists) <- ramphs$id
rownames(ramphs.dists) <- ramphs$id

# Would be nice to have a d.f in the form from,to,km
as.data.frame(ramphs.dists) -> ramphs.dists.df

#add column of names, in anticipation of using gather()
cbind(from = ramphs$id,ramphs.dists.df) -> ramphs.dists.df

gather(ramphs.dists.df, to, km, 2:dim(ramphs.dists.df)[2]) -> ramphs.dists.df

# data now in nice columns but...
# we still have the 0Km rows.
#set phasers to kill...
ramphs.dists.df[ramphs.dists.df$km > 0,] -> ramphs.dists.df

The Data

from to km
2 arlesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3241.8637
3 lyonAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3255.7344
4 ludusMagnusArena duraEuroposAmphitheater 2579.2087
5 romeFlavianAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2579.4293
6 romeAmphitheatrumCastrense duraEuroposAmphitheater 2577.5114
7 eleutheropolisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 645.7789
8 pompeiiAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2395.5732
9 meridaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4177.5360
10 newsteadAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4025.3811
11 conimbrigaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4341.4319
12 cumaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2433.6452
13 pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2427.6184
14 pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2427.4305
15 syracuseAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2304.6697
16 carthageAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2747.3387
17 hadrianVillaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2556.7911
18 corinthAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1636.6076
19 marcianopolisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1474.9250
20 porolissumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2013.5727
21 nijmegenAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3355.6355
22 carnuntumMilitaryAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2466.9678
23 carnuntumLudus duraEuroposAmphitheater 2468.9590
24 carnuntumCivilianAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2468.8220
25 leptisMagnaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2453.6977
26 empuriesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3355.0218
27 tarragonaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3509.8708
28 cagliariAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2843.1324
29 italicaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4179.6454
30 segobrigaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3862.8982
31 catiniaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2321.2086
32 paestumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2347.9264
33 lunaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2818.9115
34 casinumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2463.0371
35 viminaciumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1997.6238
36 flaviaSolvaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2491.4773
37 rusellaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2704.1570
38 parisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3503.1993
39 octodurusForumClaudiiVallensiumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3091.3570
40 cyreneAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1758.7145
41 libarnaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2922.8465
42 luceriaNoukeriaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2338.2406
43 avellaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2389.3544
44 nimesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3265.2724
45 charterhouseAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3913.4313
46 chesterAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3968.2666
47 gennesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3665.4275
48 scythopolisNysaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 545.3048
49 scylletiumScolaciumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2194.2565
50 bordeauxAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3666.6920
51 oudnaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2762.5166
52 carthagoNovaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3734.8512
53 virunumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2573.2558
54 carsulaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2587.5644
55 florenceAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2715.0934
56 ocriculumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2590.6507
57 lixusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4236.4306
58 arezzoAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2659.1569
59 larinumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2379.4143
60 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2575.1280
61 allifaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2418.0908
62 cimiezAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3030.6213
63 hydataHypsitanaForumTraianiAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2870.7728
64 luccaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2776.2445
65 hispellumAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2586.4036
66 veronaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2777.8239
67 aquincumCivilAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2295.8815
68 aquincumMilitaryAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2294.5178
69 aldburoughAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3897.0494
70 perigueuxAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3567.3616
71 cividateCamunoAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2845.9662
72 grumentoAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2269.7408
73 albaFucensAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2507.4774
74 colAugustaRauricaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3080.9122
75 sutriumAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2606.8748
76 sarmizegetusaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 1932.7637
77 salonaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2300.9942
78 londonAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3739.6890
79 tiburAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2555.5455
80 caerleonAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3935.9530
81 telesiaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2402.6495
82 urbisagliaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2533.6269
83 saintesAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3678.1577
84 assisiAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2591.6974
85 durresAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 1998.7495
86 lambaesisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3127.0012
87 mactarisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2857.1786
88 cirencesterAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3871.4994
89 vindonissaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3043.5466
90 thysdrusSmallAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2730.0252
91 thysdrusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2730.0216
92 frejusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3070.4752
93 gortynAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1440.7413
94 leptiminusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2710.4584
95 miciaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1954.3939
96 gemellaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3209.0205
97 cherchellAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3470.7413
98 pulaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2544.6444
99 carmonaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4144.6798
100 caesareaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 595.2877
101 pergamumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1299.6263

Amphitheaters Closer <= 80 Km.

from to km
266 nimesAmphitheater arlesAmphitheater 27.9687539
671 romeFlavianAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 0.2207755
672 romeAmphitheatrumCastrense ludusMagnusArena 1.6972845
683 hadrianVillaAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 24.2518151
722 ocriculumAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 57.9313847
726 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 27.8779458
739 albaFucensAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 78.8128462
741 sutriumAmphitheatre ludusMagnusArena 44.5686800
745 tiburAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 26.3424522
784 castraAlbanaAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 22.4611707
802 monteleoneAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 48.6032488
855 genzanoPrivateAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 27.5479283
868 portusOvalStructure ludusMagnusArena 23.0421650
870 statiliusTaurusAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 2.3386907
878 faleriiNoviAmphitheater ludusMagnusArena 47.1219778
892 ludusMagnusArena romeFlavianAmphitheater 0.2207755
894 romeAmphitheatrumCastrense romeFlavianAmphitheater 1.9179319
905 hadrianVillaAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 24.4592422
944 ocriculumAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 57.8988659
948 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 27.9206250
961 albaFucensAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 79.0177124
963 sutriumAmphitheatre romeFlavianAmphitheater 44.4399399
967 tiburAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 26.5447118
1006 castraAlbanaAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 22.6188286
1024 monteleoneAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 48.7236605
1077 genzanoPrivateAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 27.7012943
1090 portusOvalStructure romeFlavianAmphitheater 22.8677014
1092 statiliusTaurusAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 2.1340177
1100 faleriiNoviAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 47.0474041
1114 ludusMagnusArena romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 1.6972845
1115 romeFlavianAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 1.9179319
1127 hadrianVillaAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 22.6892929
1166 ocriculumAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 58.2690286
1170 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 27.6677326
1183 albaFucensAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 77.2652498
1185 sutriumAmphitheatre romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 45.6300686
1189 tiburAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 24.8254037
1228 castraAlbanaAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 21.2418644
1246 monteleoneAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 47.7546597
1299 genzanoPrivateAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 26.3553070
1312 portusOvalStructure romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 24.3721923
1314 statiliusTaurusAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 3.9825622
1322 faleriiNoviAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 47.7821715
1566 cumaeAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 38.4102344
1567 pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 32.3062873
1568 pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 32.1275209
1586 paestumAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 56.6024163
1597 avellaAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 25.2084422
1615 allifaeAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 65.1372711
1635 telesiaAmphitheatre pompeiiAmphitheater 52.4469286
1694 beneventoAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 48.4490504
1695 calviRisortaAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 58.3977618
1706 capuaRepublicanAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 42.3538737
1707 capuaImperialAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 42.4928679
1708 liternoAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 43.4956327
1709 noleAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 19.6962954
1720 noceraSuperioreAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 13.6747383
1775 sinuessaAmphitheater pompeiiAmphitheater 70.5526511
2387 bobadelaAmphitheater conimbrigaAmphitheater 58.7178710
2450 pompeiiAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 38.4102344
2455 pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 6.1073447
2456 pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 6.2837252
2476 casinumAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 73.7562075
2485 avellaAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 48.4031736
2503 allifaeAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 58.5692162
2523 telesiaAmphitheatre cumaeAmphitheater 56.5159704
2582 beneventoAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 68.9187382
2583 calviRisortaAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 40.5962748
2594 capuaRepublicanAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 31.5102458
2595 capuaImperialAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 31.6279460
2596 liternoAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 9.0374043
2597 noleAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 40.2940775
2608 noceraSuperioreAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 51.8324988
2623 aquinoAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 78.6335590
2662 minturnaeAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 50.7130994
2663 sinuessaAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 38.8242914
2672 pompeiiAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 32.3062873
2676 cumaeAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 6.1073447
2678 pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 0.1970432
2698 casinumAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 77.1704472
2707 avellaAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 43.4014628
2725 allifaeAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 58.1718231
2745 telesiaAmphitheatre pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 54.2711716
2804 beneventoAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 64.7172784
2805 calviRisortaAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 41.7859029
2816 capuaRepublicanAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 30.5667414
2817 capuaImperialAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 30.7001985
2818 liternoAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 13.2343994
2819 noleAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 35.1755547
2830 noceraSuperioreAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 45.7526823
2884 minturnaeAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 55.2462354
2885 sinuessaAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 43.2720751
2894 pompeiiAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 32.1275209
2898 cumaeAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 6.2837252
2899 pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 0.1970432
2920 casinumAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 77.2015414
2929 avellaAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 43.2076626
2947 allifaeAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 58.0807452
2967 telesiaAmphitheatre pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 54.1308566
3026 beneventoAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 64.5340894

As a Network

Degree

##    Min. 1st Qu.  Median    Mean 3rd Qu.    Max. 
##   1.000   1.000   3.000   6.814  11.000  23.000

High Degree

# print the top quartile
V(close.amphitheaters.nw)[degree >= summary(V(close.amphitheaters.nw)$degree/2)[5]]
## Vertex sequence:
##  [1] "ludusMagnusArena"                 "romeFlavianAmphitheater"         
##  [3] "romeAmphitheatrumCastrense"       "pompeiiAmphitheater"             
##  [5] "cumaeAmphitheater"                "pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater"     
##  [7] "pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater"        "carthageAmphitheater"            
##  [9] "hadrianVillaAmphitheater"         "paestumAmphitheater"             
## [11] "casinumAmphitheater"              "luceriaNoukeriaAmphitheater"     
## [13] "avellaAmphitheater"               "oudnaAmphitheater"               
## [15] "carsulaeAmphitheater"             "ocriculumAmphitheater"           
## [17] "arezzoAmphitheater"               "larinumAmphitheater"             
## [19] "lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater"        "allifaeAmphitheater"             
## [21] "hispellumAmphitheatre"            "albaFucensAmphitheater"          
## [23] "sutriumAmphitheatre"              "tiburAmphitheater"               
## [25] "telesiaAmphitheatre"              "urbisagliaAmphitheater"          
## [27] "assisiAmphitheatre"               "mactarisAmphitheater"            
## [29] "thysdrusSmallAmphitheater"        "thysdrusAmphitheater"            
## [31] "leptiminusAmphitheater"           "bararusAmphitheater"             
## [33] "castraAlbanaAmphitheater"         "sanBenedettoDeiMarsiAmphitheater"
## [35] "monteleoneAmphitheater"           "bolsenaAmphitheater"             
## [37] "ascoliPicenoAmphitheater"         "beneventoAmphitheater"           
## [39] "calviRisortaAmphitheater"         "sanVittorinoAmphitheater"        
## [41] "capuaRepublicanAmphitheater"      "capuaImperialAmphitheater"       
## [43] "liternoAmphitheater"              "noleAmphitheater"                
## [45] "noceraSuperioreAmphitheater"      "aquinoAmphitheater"              
## [47] "seressiAmphitheater"              "chemtouAmphitheater"             
## [49] "bekaltaAmphitheater"              "sidiBouArkoubAmphitheater"       
## [51] "genzanoPrivateAmphitheater"       "ainHedjahAmphitheater"           
## [53] "uticaAmphitheater"                "tebourbaAmphitheater"            
## [55] "hencherElKasbatAmphitheater"      "hencherZembraAmphitheater"       
## [57] "botriaAmphitheater"               "bullaRegiaAmphitheater"          
## [59] "pupputAmphitheater"               "siccaVeneriaAmphitheater"        
## [61] "thibariAmphitheater"              "portusOvalStructure"             
## [63] "statiliusTaurusAmphitheater"      "carpisAmphitheater"              
## [65] "faleriiNoviAmphitheater"          "teramoAmphitheater"              
## [67] "ordonaAmphitheater"               "bevanaAmphitheater"              
## [69] "minturnaeAmphitheater"            "sinuessaAmphitheater"

Mapping Degree

Plotting Degree

Distance to Road

Counting Seats Near Roads

Seats Near “Major” Cities

… and Riots

alt text http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Pompeian_mural_depicting_the_Amphitheatre_riots.jpg

Eye Candy